Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson, but she was baptized as Norma Jeane Baker. Early in her modeling career, she used the name Jean Norman.

Much about her public image was fabricated. She was a natural brunette, her voice didn’t originally sound the way it became famous for, and even her iconic beauty mark was fake.

She was a foster child and very shy, partly due to a childhood stutter.

Marilyn was first discovered working in a munitions factory during World War II.

Her first professional job in entertainment was as a pin-up model.

Her first major film role was in Niagara (1953), but the famous white dress scene came from The Seven Year Itch (1955). Her final film, out of around 30, was The Misfits (1961).

She was married three times: first to James Dougherty, then to Joe DiMaggio, and finally to Arthur Miller. DiMaggio never stopped loving her and even arranged her funeral.

It’s been claimed (but not confirmed) that Marilyn Monroe had an IQ of 168. She owned a personal library of about 400 books.

Frank Sinatra once gifted her a dog named Maf, short for “Mafia.”

During her era, Marilyn wore a dress size 16, which would translate roughly to a modern-day size 6 to 8.

She was often late to productions, which led to her being banned by certain film studios.

She was a believer in method acting, but she was also terrified of being typecast.

She famously claimed she wore Chanel No. 5 as her only perfume.

She was almost cast in the classic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Before her tragic death, she was in the process of adopting a child and had suffered multiple pregnancy complications.

She had a deep fear of being institutionalized in a mental asylum.

Politically, she leaned left, and the FBI suspected she had ties to the Communist Party.

Toward the end of her life, she struggled with severe insomnia, reportedly sleeping only about five hours a day.

She maintained an apartment in New York City, which she used as an “escape” from Hollywood at times.

Her last phone call remains a mystery—no one has ever confirmed who she spoke to.

Finally, Hugh Hefner purchased the burial plot next to hers at a bargain price—a stark contrast to the other adjacent plot, which was later auctioned off for $4.6 million.